INDIANAPOLIS — As executive director of the Indiana Football Coaches Association, Bob Gaddis needed a second vice president a couple of years ago.

Gaddis’ Columbus East team had been scrimmaging against Westfield at a summer camp and thought the Shamrocks had an up-and-coming coach who might be a good fit for the IFCA spot. So he asked Jake Gilbert to run for the position.

Gilbert won the election, and since then, he and Gaddis have been working together quite a bit in the offseason. Saturday night, however, they’ll be on opposite sidelines on the state’s biggest stage when their teams meet in the Class 5A state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I’ve gotten to know him a lot better since he’s become involved with that,” Gaddis said at Monday morning’s press conference at Lucas Oil. “He’s a good coach and a good man. He’s a well-rounded guy. He does it the right way.”

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Both coaches are back in the state finals for the second time. Gaddis led the Olympians to the Class 4A title in 2013.

That same year, Westfield fell to Cathedral in the 5A championship game.

“We were totally flying in the dark last time,” Gilbert said. “It was brand new for all of us, and we had a lot of catching up to do because our opponent then had been here several years in a row. We know a little more what to expect and how to prepare our players.”

While Gaddis is in his 38th year as a head coach and his 16th at East, Gilbert is only in his 12th overall and sixth at Westfield. But both have shown an ability to play to their teams’ strengths.

When Gaddis had 2011 Indiana Mr. Football Gunner Kiel at quarterback, he ran a spread offense. When Gilbert had Nick Ferrer in 2013, they threw it quite a bit.

Now, both teams are run-heavy offenses. Both completed only one pass in their semistate wins on Friday.

“I think that their team is very similar to our team,” Gaddis said. “So I think it’s going to be a tremendous matchup.”

Both Gaddis and Gilbert also have been head coaches in the annual North-South All-Star Classic. Gilbert led the South in 2014, and one of his assistants was East offensive line coach David Miller.

In his role with the IFCA, which sponsors the game, Gaddis helped pick Gilbert as the South coach.

“I think he’s a great guy and a fantastic football coach, clearly one of the best coaches in Indiana,” Gilbert said.

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Tickets for Columbus East’s state finals football game Saturday are on sale this morning at the high school.

Each ticket is $15, and East gets $1 for every presale ticket sold at the school. Kids 5-and-under are free.

East will sell tickets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, Wednesday and Friday in the athletics office. Tickets also will be available at home girls basketball games from 5 to 8 p.m. today and 11 a.m to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Fans purchasing tickets in the athletics office should enter the main school doors facing Marr Road. Those purchasing tickets at the girls basketball games should go to the main athletics entrance on the south side of the school.

The Olympians (13-1) will play Westfield (11-2) in the Class 5A state title game at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

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The bad news for the Hauser boys basketball team is that seven seniors, including four starters, were lost to graduation.

The good news for the Jets is that a group of juniors that went 17-0 as freshmen and 20-2 at the junior varsity level last season are ready to step into varsity roles. The varsity went 15-9 last year.

“We’re young,” Hauser assistant coach Griff Roth said. “I believe we have a lot of kids that can play. The juniors are a pretty talented group.”

Roth, a longtime assistant under head coach Bob Nobbe, has been filling in while Nobbe recovers from eye surgery.

Connor Wilson, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, is the lone returning starter. He will be joined in the starting lineup by four juniors — 5-11 point guard Sherman, 6-1 forward Andrew Titus, 6-2 forward Justin Compton and 6-8 center Alex Gross — when the Jets open the season tonight at Switzerland County.

Three players who split time between varsity and JV last season — 6-0 senior Pete Trotter, 6-1 senior Clayton Wilson and 6-3 junior Brad Paetzel — figure to see action. Owen Green, a 6-0 senior, is back after not playing last year.

Sam Meek, a 6-4 junior, and 5-8 juniors Joe and Matt Sweet will split time between varsity and JV.

“We’re pretty positive,” Roth said. “They’re working extremely hard. We’ll have a good year. I wouldn’t put a number on victories or anything like that, but I feel confident that our kids will come out and play hard.”

Columbus Christian

The Crusaders are the only area team to have played so far this season, and they’re off to a 3-0 start with wins against Southside Christian, Crosspointe Christian and Heritage Hall.“This is one of the best defensive teams I’ve had in a long time because they can get out and defend on the perimeter,” Columbus Christian coach Kevin Roth said. “We don’t have a lot of size, but we’re fairly quick.”

Logan Roth, a 6-5 senior, is entering his third year as a starter, and 6-0 senior Lain Isley started last year, when Columbus Christian went 21-10. Evan Reed, a 5-11 senior started at point guard the second half of last season.

The Crusaders picked up a boost from 5-9 senior Kyle Marsh, who transferred from Columbus East. Connor Graham, a 6-1 senior, is the other starter.

Judah Haynes, a 6-2 senior, also is a returning varsity player. Another key newcomer is 6-0 eighth-grader Blake Barker, who played at Northside Middle School last year.

Six other players — 6-1 junior Kyle Foster, 5-8 junior Taylor Hilliard, 6-0 freshman Josh Jones and 5-6 freshman C.J. Reed, 5-8 junior Nash Jackson and 6-2 senior Jacob Broaddus — likely will split time between varsity and JV.

“This group enjoys playing with each other, and they’ve played with each other for a long time,” Kevin Roth said. “Plus, we have some nice new additions with Kyle Marsh and Blake Barker.”

Jennings County

The Panthers have a new coach in Josh Land. The Hauser graduate had been an assistant coach at Jennings for the past 10 years.Jennings has a big player to build around in 6-6 senior Tyler Vogel. Vogel averaged about 17 points and 9 rebounds last season.

“We have a team full of kids who can shoot the ball, and Tyler is one of the best players in southern Indiana,” Land said.

Nick AmRhein, a 5-11 senior, averaged about 9 points. Josh Pettit, a 6-4 sophomore, started as a freshman, and 5-11 senior Kenneth Jones played a lot last season.

Battling for the other starting spot are 6-4 senior Bret Sawyer. 5-9 senior Chase Ketcham and 6-4 junior Travis Wilson. Cody Wilson, a 5-11 sophomore, also could see action.

“We want to compete for a sectional and conference,” Land said. “New Albany is obviously the defending state champion, which makes it tough.”

Brown County

The Eagles have gone 15-8 and 14-10 in Chuck Hutchins’ first two years at the helm, but they lost seven seniors to graduation.“We’re changing a lot,” Hutchins said. “A lot of points and a lot of wins left with those seven. We’re going to be a completely different team than we were a year ago.”

Jordan Samples, a 5-10 senior point guard, is the lone returning full-time starter. Samples averaged about 11 points a game last season.

Josh Cochran, a 6-10 senior, was a part-time starter at center. Also stepping into starting spots will be 5-10 junior Ezra Scully at shooting guard and 6-5 junior Isaiah Keefauver at forward.

Two seniors — 6-2 David Norman and 6-0 Hunter First — are battling for other forward spot. Two other seniors — 6-1 Eli Patterson and 6-2 Blake Hudson — likely will see action.

“Everything is going to be new and different now, but we’re optimistic because this group is going to have a new identity,” Hutchins said. “They seem to mesh together well. Team chemistry is good.”

Edinburgh

The Lancers will almost be starting from scratch with basically zero points a game returning from last year’s 4-20 squad.“After Christmas, when we get some game minutes under these kids’ belts, I think we’ll be really competitive,” Edinburgh coach Drew Glentzer said. “I think this team will improve every game we play, and come March, we’ll be kind of that surprise team.”

Bryce Burton, a 5-10 sophomore point guard, was part-time starter last season, but was just recently cleared to play after tearing his meniscus in football. Addison Lollar, a 5-7 senior played a little.

Possibly filling the other starting spots are 6-0 junior Parker Bryant, 5-9 junior Justin Foskuhl and 5-10 sophomore Coltan Henderson. Hunter Dean, a 5-11 sophomore, also will see action, along with 6-0 senior Cameron Moore, 5-11 senior Cameron Cravens and 6-2 senior Austin Burton.

A pair of sophomores — 6-4 Jordan Myers and 5-9 point guard Grant Godsey — will split time between varsity and JV.

“We are pretty well balanced,” Glentzer said. “It’s going to be so competitive in practice for who gets that starting spot. When kids are competing for starting spots and minutes, it puts you in good position. We have no superstar power or anything, but we have good chemistry with this group. It makes your team kind of hard to guard at times when you’re not looking for shots in the exact same spot every time.”

South Decatur

The Cougars will look to make a big move this season after going 8-59 over the past three years. That includes a 3-21 mark in Bryan Dixon’s first season at the helm.“We’d definitely like to get a .500 season,” Dixon said. “I know last year wasn’t our greatest, but we were in a lot more games last year than we were in the past. We have a lot of experience coming back, which is great, so we’re looking to put ourselves in the mix of everything.”

Matt Cornett, a 6-6 junior, is back after averaging about 8 points and 6 rebounds. Nick Benge and Oakley Billingsley, a pair of 6-2 seniors, also started the entire season, while 6-3 senior Hunter Seegers and 6-4 senior Nathan Benge were part-time starters.

Jacob Watts, a 6-0 junior, played some varsity at the end of the season. Looking to step into bigger roles this year are 6-1 senior Will Smiley, 6-0 senior Kyle Johannigman and 5-10 senior Damon Allen.

Trinity Lutheran

Trinity went 20-5 in Brian Stuckwisch’s first year as head coach but lost seven seniors, including four starters, to graduation.“I think it will be a rebuilding year,” Stuckwisch said. “I think the potential is there. It just depends how hard they work at it.”

Chad Stuckwisch, a 5-10 senior point guard, is the lone returning starter. Trinity should get a boost from 6-6 senior Kendall White in the post after he recovers from a chipped bone in his foot.

Jacob Rowe, a 6-1 junior who played a little varsity last year, along with 6-1 senior Colton Wischmeier and 5-9 senior Sam Marksberry, will join them in the lineup.

Skylar Stahl, a 5-10 senior, and 6-0 senior Matthew McKay also will see action. Four others — 5-11 junior Victor Hackman, 6-0 sophomore AJ Goecker, 5-10 sophomore Trent Shoemaker and 6-1 freshman Josh Rowe will split time between varsity and JV.

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The 2016-17 Hauser and Columbus Christian boys basketball schedules:

Hauser

Today;at Switzerland County;7:30 p.m.

Saturday;Columbus North;7:30 p.m.

Nov. 29;at Trinity Lutheran;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 5;at Greensburg;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10;at Franklin;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16;Edinburgh;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 22;at South Ripley Invitational;TBA

Dec. 23;at South Ripley Invitational;TBA

Jan. 6;North Decatur;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7;Columbus Christian;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13;Lawrenceburg;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14;at Milan;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 20;at Waldron;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21;at Crothersville;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27;at South Decatur;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28;Batesville;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2;Southwestern (Shelby);7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4;Morristown;2:30 p.m.

Feb. 7;at Madison Shawe;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10;Jac-Cen-Del;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 18;at Indian Creek;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 21;Knightstown;7:30 p.m.

Columbus Christian

Friday;Traders Point Christian;7:30 p.m.

Saturday;Bloomington Lighthouse;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2;Horizon Christian;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 3;at Madison Shawe;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6;at Martinsville Christian;7 p.m.

Dec. 9;at Crosspointe Christian;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10;at Christel House Academy;1:30 p.m.

Dec. 16;at Cannelton Invitational;TBA

Dec. 17;at Cannelton Invitational;TBA

Dec. 27;Columbus Christian Invitational;2 p.m.

Dec. 28;Columbus Christian Invitational;TBA

Dec. 30;Providence Cristo Rey;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 31;Medora;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 5;Indiana Deaf at Bankers Life Fieldhouse;3:30 p.m.

Jan. 7;at Hauser;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 12;at Cannelton;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19;at Southside Christian;7;30 p.m.

Jan. 27;Bethesda Christian;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28;South Central;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 31;at Colonial Christian;7;15 p.m.

Feb. 3;at Bloomington Lighthouse;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10;at Horizon Christian;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11;Washington Catholic;7;30 p.m.

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Because of its football team’s perennial run deep into the playoffs, Columbus East doesn’t schedule boys basketball games until early December.

That’s a good thing this year since the football squad is playing in the Class 5A state finals Saturday. The basketball team will open Dec. 2 at Heritage Christian.

In the meantime, the Olympians have plenty of non-football players who have been practicing the past couple of weeks. They had a chance to go against an opponent for the first time in Saturday’s scrimmage with Roncalli.

“Defensively, we did a great job, and that’s to be expected,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “Offensively, we did a lot of great things. I kind of thought it’s about where we would be.”

The Olympians lost five seniors to graduation, including four starters. Three of those are currently playing college basketball.

The lone returning starter is 6-foot-3 senior Tanner McFall, who averaged about 9 points a game last season.

“We expect big things out of Tanner,” Chitty said. “But the way this group plays, they really play well as a unit. They’re a really unselfish group. They really share the basketball, and they’re confident in each other. It’s going to be hard to key on one guy.”

Jonathan Foster, a 6-2 senior, and 5-10 junior point guard Max Nolting saw plenty of action in the backcourt last season. Chaz Painter, a 6-8 senior, played some in the post.

Up from the junior varsity are 6-6 senior Kyle Frost, 6-3 junior Thomas Myers, 6-4 sophomore Matthew Frost, 5-9 sophomore Drew Johnson, 6-3 junior Drew Hasson and 6-0 junior Wyatt Koopman.

“I’m pleased with the improvement that these kids have had,” Chitty said. “There’s probably 10 guys that on any given night can step up and play for us. Individually, out of this group, I look to have somebody else emerge every night.”

Chitty said he also is expecting about four or five football players that could contribute to try out next week.

East will try to bounce back from its first losing season since 2010-11. The Olympians went 11-13 last season, although two of the losses were by one point and two others came in overtime.

The toughest loss, however, came in the first round of the sectional against a Columbus North team that East had beaten in the regular season.

“We always want to play hard and be very competitive and hopefully have some success in the tournament,” Chitty said. “This is a hard-working group, so they’re fun to be around.”

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The 2016-17 Columbus East boys basketball schedule:

Dec. 2;at Heritage Christian;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9;Bedford North Lawrende;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10;at Silver Creek;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16;at Columbus North;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21;Rushville;7:30 p.m.

Dec. 27;at Noblesville Tournament;4 p.m.

Dec. 28;at Noblesville Tournament;TBA

Jan. 6;Franklin;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 10;at Shelbyville;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13;at Bloomington South;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14;at Seymour;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21;Jeffersonville;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27;East Central;7:30 p.m.

Jan. 28;at Bloomington North;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 2;Brownstown Central;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 4;New Albany;2 p.m.

Feb. 10;at Jennings County;7;30 p.m.

Feb. 11;at Franklin;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14;Franklin Central;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 17;at Madison;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 18;Martinsville;7:30 p.m.

Feb. 22;Floyd Central;7:30 p.m.

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GIRLS BASKETBALL

Hauser 50, Southwestern (Shelby) 47

Southwestern;8;8;14;17;—;47

Hauser;9;10;12;19;—;50

Southwestern (4-2, 2-1): Emmy Wendling 5 0-1 10, Emma Abel 3 0-0 8, Annie Coy 1 8-10 10, Logan DeArmitt 3 3-4 9, Megan Benson 2 2-4 7, Madison Van Gorden 1 1-2 3, A.J. Kessler 0 0-0 0, Madeleine Correll 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 14-21 47.

Hauser (5-0, 2-0): Tori Chandler 7 3-6 20, Sarah Tedder 2 2-4 6, Grace Hasler 3 5-9 11, Lauryn Starnes 0 1-4 1, Hailey Lange 1 3-6 5, Taylor Henderson 0 4-6 4, Ali Hoover 0 1-2 1, Jada Asher 0 2-2 2, Mykenzie Ault 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 21-39 50.

3-point goals: Southwestern 3 (Abel 2, Benson); Hauser 3 (Chandler 3).

BOYS SWIMMING

Columbus North 132, Jennings County 40

200 medley relay: 1. CN (Jared Carroll, Sam Russell, Nicholas Green, Thomas Goble) 1:45.07; 2. CN (Jackson Swain, Harrison Griffin, Solomon Gearheart, Ayush Panda) 1:57.64; 3. JC (Jesse Wallace, Cameron Mills, Jason Franks, Beau Harriman) 2:04.89.

200 freestyle: 1. Peyton Moore (JC) 1:51.25; 2. Evan Patterson (CN) 1:52.76; 3. Goble (CN) 1:55.23; 4. Panda (CN) 2:00.66; 5. Wallace (JC) 2:23.48.

200 individual medley: 1. Angel Torres Martinez (CN) 2:13.15; 2. Adam Zhuang (CN) 2:14.64; 3. Jackson Nagel (CN) 2:17.95; 4. Trey Hundley (JC) 2:19.02; 5. Evan Dubben (JC) 2:22.85.

50 freestyle: 1. Carroll (CN) 22.56; 2. Green (CN) 23.60; 3. Paco Cena Zavala (CN) 24.27; 4. Harriman (JC) 26.88; 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 32.46.

Diving: 1. Kaemon Jiles (CN) 244.10; 2. Austin Mills (JC) 215.25; 3. Cameron Mills (JC) 197.45; 4. Grant Fehribach (CN) 192.75; 5. Kenny Ventura (CN) 78.85.

100 butterfly: 1. Russell (CN) 55.58; 2. Green (CN) 57.15; 3. Patterson (CN) 59.93; 4. Dubben 1:02.17; 5. Jason Franks (JC) 1:13.64.

100 freestyle: 1. Torres Martinez (CN) 52.03; 2. Nagel (CN) 52.89; 3. Goble (CN) 53.30; 4. Harriman (JC) 1:01.73. 5. Jason Gasper (JC) 1:26.52.

500 freestyle: 1. Moore (JC) 5:08.90; 2. Harrison Griffin (CN) 5:23.33; 3. Torres Martinez (CN) 5:43.25; 4. Charlie Allen (CN) 6:01.41.

200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Harriman, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 1:41.33; 2. CN (Nagel, Griffin, Green, Lizhi Qin) 1:42.56; 3. CN (Panda, Torres, Allen, Paxton Rush) 1:42.58.

100 backstroke: 1. Carroll (CN) 57.48; 2. Cena Zavala (CN) 1:03.82; 3. Jackson Swain (CN) 1:05.40. 4. Wallace (JC) 1:16.46; 5. Franks (JC) 1:27.30.

100 breaststroke: 1. Russell (CN) 1:04.83; 2. Griffin (CN) 1:12.97; 3. Hundley (JC) 1:14.19; 4. Albert Zhang (CN) 1:15.17.

400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Patterson, Russell, Nagel, Zhuang) 3:27.81; 2. JC (Wallace, Dubben, Hundley, Moore) 3:51.52; 3. CN (Cena Zavala, Torres Martinez, Rush, Zhang) 3:53.06.

GIRLS SWIMMING

Columbus North 122, Jennings County 64

200 medley relay: 1. CN (Madison Sandlin, Alex Nusawardhana, Karlie Brown, Erica Samuel) 2:04.57; 2. CN (Darby Coles, Ana Guerra-Zavala, Betsy King, Olivia Morlok) 2:05.86; 3. JC (Breanna Herald, Gabby Genda, Brooklyn Ernstes, Kyelina Hembree) 2:36.22.

200 freestyle: 1. Morlok (CN) 2:04.99; 2. Ashton Koons (JC) 2:10.32; 3. Samuel (CN) 2:15.54; 4. Lauren Mackey (CN) 2:26.21; 5. Fizzie Kirchner (JC) 2:28.39.

200 individual medley: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 2:16.05; 2. Sierra Bott (JC) 2:37.98; 3. Abbey Landini (CN) 2:43.66; 4. Pavitha Venkataraman (CN) 2:55.11; 5. Herald (JC) 3:12.02.

50 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 25.76; 2. Sarah Webster (JC) 27.58. 3. Jalea Millon (JC) 28.24; 4. Sandlin (CN) 28.72; 5. Grace Schuette (CN) 33.85.

Diving: 1. Hailey Brown (JC) 188.00; 2. Emma Wilson (CN) 146.25; 3. Madison Grimes 94.55; 4. Ashley Mull (JC) 89.15; 5. Abigal Burnside (JC) 79.40.

100 butterfly: 1. Coles (CN) 1:04.03; 2. Brown (CN) 1:05.95; 3. Webster (JC) 1:15.51; 4. Venkataraman (CN) 1:21.17; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:35.22.

100 freestyle: 1. King (CN) 55.50; 2. Millon (JC) 1:01.36; 3. Guerra-Zavala (CN) 1:05.44; 4. Chloe Fields (JC) 1:10.07; 5. Jackie Fry (CN) 1:16.21.

500 freestyle: 1. K. Brown (CN) 5:56.55; 2. Abbey Landini (CN) 6:21.76; 3. Kirchner (JC) 6:49.37; 4. Madison Malcomb (JC) 7:12.40; 5. Genda (JC) 7:36.37.

200 freestyle relay: 1. JC (Fields, Millon, Koons, Kirchner) 1:43.05; 2. CN (Mackey, Sandlin, Guerra-Zavala, Landini) 1:58.35; 3. CN (Fry, Schuette, Sarah Baimukhametova, Rachel Brougher) 2:28.78.

100 backstroke: 1. Coles (CN) 1:03.36; 2. Bott (JC) 1:10.53; 3. Morlok (CN) 1:13.00; 4. Sandlin (CN) 1:13.90; 5. Ernstes (JC) 1:25.30.

100 breaststroke: 1. Nusawardhana (CN) 1:15.47; 2. Koons (JC) 1:18.15; 3. Samuel (CN) 1:23.42; 4. Fry (CN) 1:33.30; 5. Herald (JC) 1:44.47.

400 freestyle relay: 1. CN (Nusawardhana, Samuel, Morlok, King) 3:54.10; 2. CN (Coles, Brown, Landini, Guerra-Zavala) 4:06.52. 3. JC (Ernstes, Herald, Genda, Malcomb) 5:02.16.

HOPE — When Southwestern (Shelby) went on a big run early in the fourth quarter Monday night, it looked like Hauser would take its first loss of the season.

In the last four minutes, however, the Jets came roaring back. Hauser closed out the game on a 15-3 scoring run to remain unbeaten in a nail-biting 50-47 Mid-Hoosier Conference girls basketball thriller.

“It’s all them. I can’t take credit for it,” Hauser coach Brad Hamilton said. “They just found another level. We got a little momentum. You make a couple baskets and it builds some confidence. The defense has been our key all year. We gave up a little bit of a run, but we stopped them when we had to.”

The Class A No. 10 Jets (5-0, 2-0) are off to their best start under Hamilton, who is in his fourth year at the helm.

“It’s awesome and we have a great team,” said Hauser junior Grace Hasler, who finished with 11 points. “We all really like playing together, and there is a lot of energy with all of us being together.”

Tori Chandler, a junior exchange student from Australia, has been a huge factor in the Jets’ success so far. She finished with a game-high 20 points. Chandler kick-started the Jets’ fourth-quarter rally by draining a huge 3 to bring the tide back in their favor.

“When Tori made that shot, it brought all of our spirits up,” Hasler said. “We were able to hit our free throws late to win it.”

After letting the Spartans (4-2, 2-1) slip past them late in the game last season, Hauser did not want to experience déjà vu.

“We have worked very hard in preparing for this game,” senior co-captain Hailey Lange said. “We didn’t know what was coming at us because things change, but we stayed tough out there.”